Information

Voltage and Video

Mauritania Voltage and Video Systems

Electricity in Mauritania is 220 Volts, alternating at 50 Hz (cycles per second)

If you travel to Mauritania with a device that does not accept 220 Volts at 50 Hertz, you will need a voltage converter

Mauritania Video System

Mauritania has B/SECAM video system

History

Mauritania History

Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled Mauritania with a heavy hand for over two decades. A series of presidential elections that he held were widely seen as flawed. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDALLAHI was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritanias first freely and fairly elected president. His term ended prematurely in August 2008 when a coup deposed him and ushered in a military council government. Meanwhile, the country continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population (Afro-Mauritanians) and White and Black Moor (Arab-Berber) communities.